Tourists have been warned not to travel to several Mexican cities due to “increasingly frequent gun battles” and criminally manufactured IEDs in one region.
The United States travel advisory for the Tamaulipas region, bordering Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, has a level 4, “do not travel” warning due to violent crime and kidnapping.
Cities in the Tamaulipas region include Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, San Fernando – some popular beach destinations with spring breakers.
The US embassy in Mexico said in a security alert on 27 January: “The U.S. Consulate is aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours.”
Travellers in the area have been warned to stay on paved roads, not touch unknown objects, travel during daylight hours and notify friends and family of their safety.
The embassy added that criminal organisations are “increasingly” manufacturing IEDs in the region, with an official government vehicle destroyed in Rio Bravo, injuring one, on 23 January.
